High Court Won't Hear 7 Guantanamo Appeals

By

Jess Bravin

Updated June 11, 2012 7:55 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court declined to hear seven Guantanamo prisoner appeals Monday, leaving the development of legal standards for detention to an appeals court that has set rules strongly favoring the government.

Four years ago, the justices held by a 5-4 vote that the Constitution guarantees Guantanamo detainees the right of habeas corpus—the right to challenge in court the legality of their detentions. Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in that case, Boumediene v. Bush, cited precedents as old as the Magna...